Apparatus for abrading bisque ware



Dec. 1, 1953 O. J. BURDEN APPARATUS FOR BRADINGv BISQUE WARE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec. 17, 1951 9m o o o o o o o\ o 90.9.9992@ ooooooouoo 00000000.00

3 JNVENTOR.

Osea/r J. B11/rden BY am, 9 ATTORNEYS O. J. BURDEN APPARATUS FOR ABRADING BISQUE WARE Dec. l, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dgo. 1'7,\ 1951 111-111-llIl'IlllIl/IIII ATTORNEYS R. m n w..

SCa/r dBu/rden BY @,@Qsm

Patented Dec. 1, 1953 PATENT OF ,F ILCE APPARATUS FOR ABRADING BISQUE WARE Oscar J. Burden, Alliance, Ohio vApplicationfDecember 17, 1951, Serial No. 262,065

'5 Claims. 1

The invention relates generally to the abrading or cleaning of chinawa-re .after it has been red in a bisque kiln and before it isglazed, and more particularly to a novel -method and apparatus by which the ware .is .abraded or cleaned continuously withoutsubstantial breakage.

It necessary to abrade yware at the bisque stage to .remove .particles 4of .sand .and clay and foreign vmatter which would project through or cause roughness in the glaze subsequently to be applied, or which would Vinterfere with decorating unlerglaze ware. Prior vabrading practice has included vhand sanding, which is obviously slow and expensive, randfsand blasting, which produces spotty and uneven cleaning. .Another ,prior .practice is to tumble the ware with gravel or .granular material in .a closed frame. All of these .prior methods are -of the batch type in which eneor more ofthe articles of ware are-put .in .position by :hand for -cleaning, and `later ren .moved by hand.

Amore Yrecent 4.prior method which attempts to .clean .the .Ware .continuously comprises feeding .ware .together with -grog .consisting -of gravel and broken Ipieces .of chinavvare into Ythe upper .end of an axially .rotating slightly inclined tunnels`haped belt, in which .the .ware .is Atumbled with the grog v,and is discharged continuously from the vlower .end ofthe belt. This .method has several .serious disadvantages. For example, the tumbling l.action results `in considerable breakage of the ware.; .the tunnel-.shaped belt is quite long and 'therefore expensive and the apparatus requires a large amount o'f Afloor space; several Workmen are required at the discharge end to 'dump 'the grog 'out of the individual pieces of Ware; and the ware 'has too much dust 'on its Ksurface even 'after the v'individual pieces have beeni'dumped Itsisan-obj-ectof the present invent-ion to providea novelmethod and apparatus f'for continu- Iously Aabra-ding Abique ware, `so as .to overcome the 5foregoing disadvantages.

.Morecspecificam zit is anfobject .of the present invention to .provide novel apparatus :for continu- .ously 4abrading bisque Ware withoutisubstantial l .breakage and 'with :a minimum amount of labor .and -.expense.

.Another .Objectis 4to provide -a novel .apparatus Ywhich lis ,relatively --simple to construct and operate .and occupies asmall. amount of .door space.

lA further object is to provideanovel method of .continuously .abrading bisque ware .economically and without substantial `breakage.

.'Ihese .and other objects are accomllhedlby the parts, methods, combinations and 4construc- .tions `comprising the .present invention, a preferred embodiment of the novel apparatus being illustrated by Way of example in the accompanying drawings, the novel `method and apparatus being described in detail in the ,accompanying specication, .the scope of the invention being dened in the appended claims, and .thenature of the .invention being set forth in 'the following general statement.

In general terms, vthe invention includes distributing gravel .or greg from .an upper perforate tray or hopper into .a perforate vibrating ,or shaking tray .having .anopen vdischarge end, i:platz-- ing vthe ware on the vvibrating tray -for -beingcontinuously abraded and advanced .thereover to be discharged onto a perforated Vconveyer vbelt al# vlowing greg carried overa drop through vthe belt, the ware on the belt being .brushed clean by ya -brush mounted .over lthe belt, Athe lgrog dropping through the vibrating tray being collected .on Aa second Vconveyor belt, with means for selectively vibrating Vsaid second belt when additional ware is placed -on the belt, there being means for c ollecting greg from .the shaking .tray and ,from both belts, y.and means .for .returning said .grog .to .-the upper distributing tray.

Referring to thedrawings .in Whichapreferred .embodiment `of the vinvention is shown by .Wayof example;

Figure 1 is .a plan viewof the .novel apparatus for carrying out .the invention, part yof the ccnveyer for delivering .the .abraded 4ware being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof .partly lin section;

Fig. 3 ,is a ,transverse .section as .on vline 3i-(.3,

Fig. 2 showing an end .elevation of theprincipalpart of theapparatus.;

similar parts tween the posts I I in a preferably slightly inclined position as shown in Fig. 2, and the pan I2 is provided with walls I3 and I4 enclosing the sides and ends of the pan. The pan I2 may be suspended from the transverse channels II by links I5 and I6 which are pivoted at their upper ends in brackets Il secured in the channels, and are pivoted at their lower ends in bracket ears I8 attached to the side walls I3 of the pan I2.

In order to agitate the pan I2, a pitman link I9 is attached to an ear 20 on the lower end of the pan, the pitman being eccentrically connected at its other end to a shaft 2| driven by a motor 22 supported on a platform 23 which is carried by laterally opposite posts I0, the platform being braced by diagonal angles 24.

The bottom wall :25 of the pan I2 is provided with a plurality of perforations 26 which are of a size permitting gradual passage of grog including gravel and the like used for polishing or abrading the bisque ware. A number of transverse slides 2l are slidably mounted under the bottom wall 2b, and these slides have perforations 26' adapted to register with the perforations 25. By adjusting the slides transversely, the perforations 25 may be closed so as to control the amount of grog passing through the bottom wall of the pan I2.

A vibrating open-ended tray 29 or chute is suspended between the posts II below the pan I2 and preferably inclined so as to be parallel therewith. The side walls 3e of the tray have angle brackets 3| attached to their opposite end portions and the horizontal leg of each angle rests on the top of a helical compression spring 32, the bottom ends of the springs being supported on angle brackets 33 attached to the posts I. Thus the tray is yieldingly supported by the springs 322 on the posts IB.

The bottom wall 34 of the tray 29 is provided with'a plurality of perforations 35 similar to the perforations 26 in the bottom wall of the pan i2, and is also provided with perforated slides 35 similar to the slides 21 for opening and closing a number of the holes 35 in the tray 23. Preferably the tray 28 is vibrated by a wobbler shaft 31 which is iournaled in laterally spaced bearings 38 on the bottom wall of the tray, and which has eccentrically weighted discs 39 thereon for imparting a wobbling or vibrating motion to the tray when the shaft 3l' is connected by coupling y31 to driving motor 4t supported on the subrame indicated generally at 4I. Due to the inclination of the tray 29, the grog will slowly advance over the bottom surface of the tray as the same is vibrated, toward the lower end of the tray, or from left to right as viewed in Fig. 2, Consequently, any dishes D which may be supported on the bed of grog carried by the tray will be correspondingly advanced to the right. As shown, the lower discharge end of the tray 29 preferably has mounted thereon a roller 42 journaled in bracket ears 43, over which the dishes D ride as they leave the tray, so that the dishes are more gradually lowered from the tray to avoid unduly jarring the same.

It will be understood that instead of vibrating the tray 29 with a wobbler shaft, a shaker motion may be imparted to the tray by suitable and well known eccentric means, without departing from the scope of the invention.

An endless belt 44 of rubber or rubber and v`fabric composition is positioned between the laterally opposite posts IIJ immediately below the vibrating tray 29. This belt 44 is preferably horizontal and is carried at one end by a roller 45 on a shaft 4E driven by a motor 47 supported on the frame bracket indicated generally at 48. The other end of the belt 44 is carried on an idler roller 49, and the shafts of the rollers 45 and 49 are preferably yieldingly mounted on compression springs til carried on brackets 5I attached to the posts II).

Between the rollers 45 and 49 are a series of supporting idler rollers 52 which have their ends journaled in longitudinal frame members 53, as shown in Fig. 5, the ends of the frame members 53 being journaled on the shafts of the end rollers 45 and 49. Longitudinal guide bars 54 are attached to the upper edges of the frame members 53 by straps 55 for the purpose of holding the outer edges of the upper run 44 of the belt in an upturned position to retain the grog thereon, as best shown in Fig. 5.

In the normal operation of the belt 44, the

upper run 44 is operated to travel to the right as viewed in Fig. 2 so that the belt will collect the grog dropping through the perforations '35 in the tray 29, and discharge such material over the end of the belt at the roller 49. However, in case it may be desirable to place large dishes, cups, etc., on the upper run of the belt 44' for the purpose of carrying out an abrading operation on the belt, utilizing the grog deposited thereon, means is provided for vibrating the belt as it travels toward the right. As best shown in Fig. 4, such means preferably includes a wobbler shaft 5.a journaled in the frame bars 53 and carrying the eccentrically loaded discs 51. The shaft 55 is coupled by coupling 56 to a driving motor 5t mounted on a platform 59 which may be embodied in the sub-frame indicated generally at 4I. Thus when the motor 58 is operating, a vibrating motion will be imparted to the rollers carrying thebelt 44 so that any dishes resting upon grog carried on the upper run of the belt will be abraded by the vibrating bed of grog thereon, and the grog dropping from tray 29. When this operation is being carried out on the belt 44, it may be necessary to raise the lower end of tray 29 somewhat so that the dishes on the belt will pass thereunder.

v A delivery conveyer belt 60 is mounted on suitable rollers or pulleys with its receiving end extending under the discharge end'of the belt 44, said receiving end passing over the idler pulley 6I mounted on brackets 52 attached to laterally opposite posts Ill. As indicated in Fig. 1the belt t@ is perforated and has a large number of relatively large perforations t3 through which the grog carried over from the vibrating tray or the belt 44 or the dishes, can pass. A hopper 54 is mounted on a frame 55 under the receiving portion of the belt Eil to collect all material which is discharged from the tray 29 and the belt 44.

At one end of the hopper is a chute B6 fordirecting the grog from the hopper onto the lower end of an elevator belt 6l having bucket-shaped flights t5 thereon for carrying the grog upwardly. The lower end of the belt may be carried cn a drive pulley lil which is driven by a motor TI, and the upper end passes over a pulley 'I2 mounted on brackets 'i3 which are carried on channel supports i4. A receiving hopper 'I5 with a connecting discharge chute 'i6 is mounted under 'the upper end o1" the belt 6l for catching the grog elevated by the belt and for returningit to the upper pan I2., ft may be desirable to pro vide a screen under the chute 66 or above 'the hopper for screening out any broken pieces of dishes from the grog.

In the operation of the novel apparatus, the grog in the pan I2 is constantly agitated and drops through the perforations 26 onto the vibrating tray 29, the slides 21 and 36 being adjusted so that a bed of grog is carried on the tray 29 and gradually advanced towards its lower end as it is vibrated. An operator stands at the left of the apparatus, as viewed in Fig. 2 and continually places dishes D right side up on the bed of grog. As the dishes gradually progress to the lower right end of the tray, due to the vibrating action and the incline of the tray they are partly covered by grog dropping from pan I2, and all surfaces of the dishes will be abraded or polished by the vibrating material, and will pass over the discharge roller 42 and be received on the upper run of belt without substantial jarring, because the belt is of relatively soft material such as rubber and is positioned close to the roller 42.

As the dishes D are conveyed to the right by the upper run of belt 60, substantially all of the grog will pass through the belt and be collected in the hopper 64, and as the dishes continue to the right, their upper surfaces will be brushed clean of any remaining clust or ne grog material by the rotary brush I8 which is positioned over the upper run of the belt and carried by brackets 'I9 on the horizontal frame member 65. After the dishes D pass under the brush 18 they are clean and free of dust and are delivered by the belt to a collecting station or to other delivery means.

The operation of the novel apparatus acco-rding to the novel method of the invention provides 11..

for continuously abrading bisque ware without substantial breakage and With a minimum amount of labor and expense.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, because such words are used for descriptive purposes herein and are intended to be broadly construed.

Moreover, the embodiment o-f the improved construction illustrated and described herein is by way of example, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the exact details of construction.

Having now described the invention, the construction, the operation and use of a preferred embodiment thereof, and the advantageous new and useful results obtained thereby; the new and useful methods and constructions, and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereof obvious to those skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. Apparatus for cleaning bisque ware continuously including a shaker tray having a perforate..

bottom and an open discharge end, means for distributing grog continuously over said tray bottom, means for vibrating said tray to abrade Ware thereon and advance it gradually toward said discharge end, a perforate belt conveyer for receiving material discharged from said shaker tray, brush means for cleaning the dust from Ware on said perforate conveyer, a second belt conveyer under said perforate tray for receiving grog dropping through said tray, means for selectively vibrating said second conveyer to abrade ware carried thereon, means for collecting grog from both conveyers. and means for returning said collected grog to said grog distributing means.

2. Apparatus for cleaning bisque ware continuously including a shaker tray having a perforate bottom and an open discharge end, means for distributing grog continuously over said tray bottom, means for vibrating said tray to abrade ware thereon and advance it gradually toward said discharge end, a perforate belt conveyer for receiving material discharged from said shaker tray, a second belt conveyer under said perforate tray for receiving grog dropping through said tray, means for selectively vibrating said second conveyer to abrade ware carried thereon, means for collecting grog from both conveyers, and means for returning said collected grog to said distributing means.

3. Apparatus for cleaning bisque ware continuously including a shaker tray having a perforate bottom and an open discharge end, means for distributing grog continuously over said tray bottom, means for vibrating said tray to abrade ware thereon and advance it gradually toward said discharge end, a perforate belt conveyer for receiving material discharged from said shaker tray, brush means for cleaning the dust from Ware on said perforate conveyer, a second belt conveyer under said perforate tray for receiving grog dropping through said tray, means for collecting grog from both conveyers, and means for returning said collected grog to said grog distributing means.

4. Apparatus for cleaning bisque Ware continuously including a shaker tray having a perforate bottom and an open discharge end, means for distributing grog continuously over said tray bottom, means for vibrating said tray to abrade ware thereon and advance it gradually toward said discharge end, a perforate belt conveyer for receiving material discharged from said shaker tray,

brush means for cleaning the dust from ware on said perforate conveyer, means under said perforate tray for receiving grog dropping through said tray, and means for returning grog from said f belt conveyer and from said grog receiving means to said grog distributing means.

5. Apparatus for cleaning bisque Warecontinuously including a shaker tray having a perforate bottom and an open discharge end, an upper distributing tray for distributing grog over the perforate bottom of said shaker tray, means for Vibrating said shaker tray to abrade ware thereon and advance it gradually toward said discharge end, a perforatebelt conveyer for receiving material from the discharge end of said shaker tray, a second belt conveyer under said shaker tray for receiving grog dropping through said tray, means for selectively vibrating said second conveyer to abrade ware carried thereon, means for collecting grog from both conveyers, and means for returning said collected grog to said upper distributing tray.

OSCAR J. BURDEN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,328,603 Stirling Jan. 20, 1920 1,482,473 Lord et a1. Feb. 5, 1924 1,512,350 McCorkle et a1 Oct. 21, 1924 1,789,657 McCarty et al Jan. 20, 1931 2,347,164 Petrilli Apr. 18, 1944 2,554,701 Hackett et a1 May 29, 1951 

